Audra’s Quick Turkey Chili Recipe

This recipe has been moved to Cherishedbliss.com, click here for the recipe!

 

Homemade Chicken Stock & Shredded Chicken

Today I am going to share my recipe for homemade chicken stock and shredded chicken. I will be honest, in the past I rarely made homemade chicken stock unless it was around the holidays. I often bought the organic chicken stock cartons from the grocery store because it was one last thing I had to do in the kitchen. Well things have recently changed because of my daughter's diet and I now have to make homemade chicken stock for all my recipes that require chicken stock.

My daughter is 16 years old and has suffered from severe migraines since the 8th grade and it has been one awful ride. We have tried everything from chiropractic care to migraine preventatives and nothing seem to truly work, until one doctor at a urgent care clinic suggested a low tyramine diet. I have never even heard of this diet before we stepped into this clinic. My daughter was not happy and thrilled at first, but she was so fed up with the pain and sickness that accommodated these migraine episodes that she was willing to give it a try.

I can not tell you how wonderful it has been! She is off her preventives, no more sickness, and no migraines, all because of her diet! I am amazed! Here is a link to a low tyramine diet that we follow religiously.

http://www.headaches.org/pdf/Diet.pdf

Below is a link to hidden MSG in your food

http://www.truthinlabeling.org/hiddensources.html
(I have not found a safe shelved organic chicken broth that does not have yeast extract. This was a huge migraine source for my daughter.)

I will be truthful, I am cooking more than I ever have and out to eat options are very limited, but the results have been tremendous!

I know you are ready for the recipe, so let's get started...

I used:
3 lbs whole organic chicken
10 springs of thyme
4 sprigs of rosemary
2 bay leafs
5 stalks of celery
3 medium carrots
4 whole shallots
5 garlic cloves
1/2 TBS of whole peppercorns
1 tsp kosher salt

This batch made 3- 32 oz containers of broth and approximately 4 cups of shredded chicken.



Please do not feel limited to my ingredients, homemade chicken broth is basically fool proof. You can use any variety of herbs, vegetables and seasonings. Although celery, carrots, and onions should be a must.

Directions:
Take the chicken out of the packaging and pat dry with paper towels. Sometimes a whole chicken may have a giblet package or the kidneys left on the inside, so be sure to remove those before cooking. Place the chicken in a large stock pot and fill with enough water to just cover the chicken. Next, add all the herbs, vegetables, and seasonings. Cover and simmer for at least 2 hours.

When the chicken is ready (falling apart tender). Remove the whole chicken from the pot with tongs. I use a pie plate to place the chicken on.  Once the chicken is cool enough, remove skin, shred and debone. Use the shredded chicken in any recipe you desire. This shredded chicken goes really well in my
Chicken Enchiladas with a Cream of Jalapeno Sauce!



Once you remove the chicken from the broth place a large bowl in a ice bath in the sink. Then place a fine mesh strainer over the bowl and slowly pour the broth over the strainer.



Now that your broth has cooled let it set in the fridge overnight. This will allow the fat to be easily removed. As you can see below the fat rises to the top and hardens. Remove and discard the fat with a slotted spoon.



Now you are ready to store the chicken broth in the fridge for up to 2 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

When freezing only fill liquids to the bottom line.



If you are looking for awesome freezer storage containers such as these, I bought my from amazon. Click on the picture below and it will lead you straight to the page where you can purchase these wonderful containers. I absolutely love mine and do not only use them for broth, but they are great for freezing soups too. I use the smaller ones for freezing left overs and it works great on nights when I don't have anything planned!

Hamburger Veggie Soup

This recipe has been moved to Cherishedbliss.com, click here for the full recipe!

Potato, Broccoli, & Cheese Soup

If you read

Sunday's Post
this is the soup recipe I promised.
This delicious soup was made by my daughter for me and the family when I was sick in bed a few weeks back. She took what she learned from making baked potato soup and added broccoli.
She is going to make a great Mama one day and a great contestant on Master Chef in a few years! :)

Ingredients:
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups half and half cream
1/2 medium chopped onion
2 minced garlic cloves
3 cups chicken stock
2 medium potatoes, cooked and mashed
2 medium raw potatoes cut into small chunks
3 cups of fresh chopped broccoli
8 oz  mild yellow cheese, grated

kosher salt and pepper to taste
Tony's Creole Seasoning to taste
A few splashes of Louisiana Hot Sauce (I use 4 splashes)
Top each bowl with bacon bits
(I use turkey bacon)

Directions:
In a small sauce pan boil two potatoes in water until tender.

Then drain, mash, and set aside.

Sauté onion and garlic in butter or olive oil. Set aside.

Then cook melted butter and flour using a whisk over medium heat for about 1 minute in a large stock pot, then whisk constantly while adding the half and half.

Add chicken stock and bring back to a boil, stirring occasionally. Add sautéed onions and garlic, raw potatoes, and mashed cooked potatoes.

Simmer for 10 minutes, then add broccoli and cook an additional 10 minutes or until both potato and broccoli are tender. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking! If the soup mixture is too thick add more chicken stock until your desired consistency.

Finally, add cheese, salt, pepper, Louisiana Hot sauce, and Tony's Creole Seasoning to taste.

Allow the cheese to melt.
Top each bowl with bacon bits, serve warm, and enjoy!

Hamburger Veggie Soup

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This recipe has been moved to Cherishedbliss.com, click here for the full recipe!

Lentil Sausage Soup

Fall has arrived and there is nothing better than a cold day and a nice warm bowl of soup. Of course it's still hot in Texas, but us Texans can dream about cold weather.

These lentils are a combination of French Green, Petite Crimson, Golden, Black Beluga, Spanish Pardina and Ivory White Lentils. I found this Autumn Lentil Blend at Whole Foods Market in the bulk section.

 

Vegetable Broth

4 cups of water

½ onion sliced in small wedges

2 carrots

3 celery stalks

¼ tsp kosher salt

¼ tsp whole peppercorn

1 tsp garlic and herb

1. Combine all ingredients in a medium sauce pan. Cover and simmer until vegetable are tender. Strain broth into larger pot.

2. Place the cooked vegetables in blender and add ½ cup of chicken broth. Blend well.

3. Add vegetable puree to the large pot.

Ingredients for soup:

1-2 carrots cut into thin chunks

2 small potatoes cut into thin chunks

4 cups of low sodium chicken broth

1 ½ cup of lentils sorted and rinsed (rinse lentils in a strainer)

1 package of turkey sausage sliced and sautéed

1. Add chicken broth to the vegetable broth and bring to a boil.

2. Then add lentils, potatoes, and carrots.

3. Bring back to a boil, cover, and simmer for 20- 25 minutes. Cooking time will vary. You will know the lentils are done when they can be mashed with ease when pressed between your thumb and forefinger. Don't over cook.

4. Then add sautéed sausage.

5. Salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with warm cornbread and enjoy!

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What's for dinner on a cold night?

It is literally FREEZING today in Houston TX, so I decided to spice my dinner menu up with Chicken Tortilla Soup. My family absolutely loves this recipe and I want to share it with you!

Whenever possible I choose low sodium and organic ingredients.

Ingredients:
For a smaller recipe just cut all ingredients in half.

2- 28oz cans of crushed tomatoes
5 cups of chicken broth (add less if you like chunky soup)
1 TBS of chili powder (or to taste)
1/2 tsp cumin

2 tsp of oregano
olive oil

large purple onion finely chopped

5 cloves of garlic minced
1 ½ pounds of chicken tenders or boneless, skinless chicken breast

½ tsp cumin (or to taste)

½ tsp garlic powder (or to taste)

½ tsp chili powder (or to taste)

1- 12oz frozen corn

2 cans of rinsed black beans

1- 4oz can of green chilies
1/4 cup chopped cilantro (or to taste)

salt and pepper to taste

Garnish with:

fresh chopped cilantro

crushed tortilla chips

sliced avocados

shredded Monterey jack or Mexican blend

chopped green onions

dollop of sour cream

Directions

In a large cooking pot add crushed tomatoes, chicken broth, 2 TBS chili powder, 1/2 tsp cumin, and 2 tsp. oregano, begin to simmer. In separate pan sauté garlic and onion with olive oil, then add onion and garlic to the large cooking pot.

With the pan you just used for the onion and garlic, sauté chicken tenders add more olive oil if needed. Sprinkle the remaining chili powder, garlic powder, and cumin over chicken as it cooks completely (no longer pink). When your chicken is done cut into bite size pieces or shred and add to the large cooking pot.

Add rinsed black beans, frozen corn, cilantro, and green chilies to the large cooking pot. Salt and pepper to taste and simmer 5-10 minutes.

Serve soup warm and garnish with tortilla chips, sliced avocados, shredded cheese, green onions, cilantro, and a dollop of sour cream.

This recipe feeds my family of five and provides lunch for tomorrow! For a smaller recipe just cut all ingredients in half.

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